Cloud ear fungus that grows on dead wood, available fresh or dried. If fresh they have a bland flavour but take up the flavour of the foods with which they are cooked. They should not be fried as they explode, but should be stewed for at least an hour. If dried they are black and are broken into small pieces. They swell hugely when soaked. Dried mushrooms may also be ground to a powder, in which form it may be used to flavour soups and stocks.
A blend of black teas flavoured with bergamot. Ideally it should be drunk with a slice of lemon rather than with milk. It is a light, refreshing tea.
Low-bush blueberry. The cultivated varieties of blueberry growing, not surprisingly, on low bushes growing not much more than 30 cm (1 ft) in height. The high-bush are the blueberries most commonly seen. The rabbit-eye or low-bush varieties are wild varieties producing smaller fruit. These grow in the north of the United States up into Canada.
A name for Irish Peach, a crisp, juicy, tasty medium-sized eating apple with yellowish-green skin flushed blushed and striped with orange and red. This apple possibly arose in Sligo and is recorded by 1819 by Mr John Robertson of Kilkenny. Early-season apple is harvested from August in South-East England and has poor storage properties. It is also used for baking.
Land cress, as opposed to watercress. A dark, peppery leaf vegetable providing salad leaves in winter. It is similar to watercress in appearance, though a little lighter and more peppery in flavour.
An early variety of carrot, hence good for grating into salads.
